Gloriana by Michael Moorcock

Queen Elizabeth I of England (ruled in late 1500's), also known as Gloriana and Good Queen Bess, has been a source of endless fascination for centuries. There are many movies (Elizabeth made Cate Blanchett's career) and dozens of books, not to mention Web sites devoted to her. While there was great strife during her reign, Elizabeth I was one of the most beloved monarchs of all time, and her period is known as the Golden Age of English history. Some of the world's greatest luminaries came from her country in that period, including William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, and Sir Walter Raleigh. A fable satirizing Spenser's The Faerie Queene and reflecting the real life of Elizabeth I. GLORIANA, OR THE UNFULFILL'D QUEEN tells of a woman who ascends to the throne upon the death of her debauched and corrupted father, King Hern. Gloriana's reign brings the Empire of Albion into a Golden Age, but her oppressive responsibilities choke her, prohibiting any form of sexual satisfaction no matter what fetish she tries. Her problem is in fact symbolic of the hypocrisy of her entire court. While her life is meant to mirror that of her nation¿an image of purity, virtue, enlightenment, and prosperity the truth is that her peaceful empire is kept secure by her wicked chancellor Montfallcon and his corrupt network of spies and murderers, the most sinister of whom Captain Quire, is commissioned to seduce Gloriana and thus bring down Albion and the entire empire.

Michael Moorcock, 1939 - Writer Michael Moorcock was born December 18, 1939 in Mitcham, Surrey, England to Arthur and June (Taylor) Moorcock. He was married to writer Hilary Bailey from 1962-1978 and had three children with her. He also married Jill Riches, in 1978, and Linda Mullens Steele, in 1983. Moorcock was the editor of the juvenile magazine Tarzan Adventures from 1956-58, an editor and writer for the Sexton Blake Library and for comic strips and children's annuals from 1959-61, an editor and pamphleteer for Liberal Party in 1962, and became editor and publisher for the science fiction magazine New Worlds in 1964. He has worked as a singer-guitarist, has worked with the rock bands Hawkwind and Blue Oyster Cult and is a member of the rock band Michael Moorcock and the Deep Fix. Moorcock's writing covers a wide range of science fiction and fantasy genres. "The Chronicles of Castle Brass" was a sword and sorcery novel, and "Breakfast in the Ruins: A Novel of Inhumanity" uses the character Karl Glogauer as a different person in different times. Karl participates in the political violence of the French Revolution, the Paris Commune, and a Nazi concentration camp. Moorcock also wrote books and stories that featured the character Jerry Cornelius, who had no consistent character or appearance. "The Condition of Muzak" completed the initial Jerry Cornelius tetralogy and won Guardian Literary Prize in 1977. "Byzantium Endures" and "The Laughter of Carthage" are two autobiographical novels of the Russian emigre Colonel Pyat and were the closest Moorcock came to conventional literary fiction. "Byzantium Endures" focuses on the first twenty years of Pyat's life and tells of his role in the Russian revolution. Pyat survives the revolution and the subsequent civil war by working first for one side and then another. "The Laughter of Carthage" covers Pyat's life from 1920-1924 telling of his escape from Communist Russia and his travels in Europe and America. It's a sweeping picture of the world during the 1920's because it takes the character from living in Constantinople to Hollywood. Moorcock returned to the New Wave style in "Blood: A Southern Fantasy" (1994) and combined mainstream fiction with fantasy in "The Brothel of Rosenstrasse," which is set in the imaginary city of Mirenburg.
Steve Ellis was sportswriter who covered the Florida Seminoles for over twenty seasons. He won numerous awards, both at the state and national level, for his coverage. Prior to joining the "Tallahassee Democrat", Ellis was a founding writer and editor for the "Osceola", a weekly publication dedicated to Seminoles athletics. He passed away in 2009.